The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for bilateral knee conditions and acquired psychiatric disorder, including drug abuse disorder. The reasons are that new examinations and etiological opinions are needed due to the lack of meaningful consideration of the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset of his symptoms.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners failed to meaningfully address the competent and credible lay statements of record regarding the onset of the Veteran's bilateral knee conditions and acquired psychiatric disorder, including drug abuse disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Condition, Left Knee Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2022
- Citation
- 22067486
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 22067486.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral knee conditions, finding that the Veteran's current knee conditions are more likely than not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee condition is related to his service-connected left knee, back, and bilateral foot disabilities. The decision grants entitlement to service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the most recent rating decision on the merits, issued in October 2024, requires correction due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors. The claim for service connection for a right knee condition is being remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for migraine headaches, right knee condition, and acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and depression) are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations and evaluations.
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